SX-650 power switch help - but not the typical problem UPDATED!

[mrbruce]

With an SX-650 that had symptoms of the typical power switch problem, I REALLY challenged myself to attempt to access/open/repair it. I was successful (including not breaking the tuner string - at least so far) but when reassembling the black faceplate, I'm coming up with not enough thread to permit the nuts to grab the aluminum faceplate. After looking closely, I'm seeing that the small flat head screws I found to close the switch back up, are causing the power/speaker switch to stand off from the rear of the black faceplate, by maybe less than 1/8". (I used the small machine screws to replace the aluminum rivets that had to be drilled out.) And yes, I did try to straighten out the ends of the rivets in order to remove/reuse. Couldn't make it work.

Help/ advice I'm looking for is what can I use in place of the screws. Don't believe I can find a rivet gun operator to fasten this. Considering even Kevlar threads to hod the switch closed. Whatever I end up with has to not project more than maybe 1/32" beyond the ends of the switch.
Any recommendations welcome, especially solutions that might avoid taking the black faceplate off again, since I know I'm tempting fate fooling around near the tuner string.

Thanks in advance.

Bruce
UPDATE- After an agonizing recheck, I saw the obvious mistake that I made. The threaded spacers that go just behind the aluminum faceplate must be placed in the black faceplate in a specific orientation so that they "lock" into it. A truly novice error. After the fix, and a second off & back on for the black faceplate, I got it back together and it works like new. The short end pieces of the cover will get new veneer and then it will happily go into my rotation.
Again, apologies to anyone who was as confused as I was from the initial post. Also, thanks to many others for their previous posts on how to access and repair the power switch.
Happy holidays to all.

 

[larryderouin]

Find a R/C Hobby Shop close by and match up the length and diam of the screws and add 1/4" to the length. Assemble the unit and dremel the extra length of the screws off using a grinder wheel, with the nuts threaded on and tight. Make the cut a couple threads from the nut.

If the screw heads are causing interference, trim them so they don't interfere with the Dremel.

 

[mrbruce]

Find a R/C Hobby Shop close by and match up the length and diam of the screws and add 1/4" to the length. Assemble the unit and dremel the extra length of the screws off using a grinder wheel, with the nuts threaded on and tight. Make the cut a couple threads from the nut.

If the screw heads are causing interference, trim them so they don't interfere with the Dremel.

Larry - Thanks for the quick reply, but I'm truly embarrassed to say, the original post is not accurate. The problem, now that I've looked twice, is not the new screws I put in, but rather the original screws that hold the entire power speaker assembly together. I somehow have this in slightly wrong, since it looks like the original screw heads are against the rear of the black plate and need to rotate very slightly to allow the assembly to mount flush against the back plate.
For other members - please hold off a little while until I see if I can work this out.
My apologies to all for the confusion. I still have the problem but may be able to fix.
Again sorry for the incorrect description. My SO and I fought this reassembly for a couple of hours today and I lost my focus on the exact reason for the faceplates not going together.

 

[mrbruce]

I've updated the original post. Problem solved!

 

[larryderouin]

Sometimes you just have to step back and attack the problem in the morning with some fresh coffee in ya, and a VERY BIG HAMMER as a viable Threat!

 

[mrbruce]

Sometimes you just have to step back and attack the problem in the morning with some fresh coffee in ya, and a VERY BIG HAMMER as a viable Threat!

Exactly what I needed to do.
I'm now probably a little too comfortable maneuvering the tuner string around the faceplate.

 

[gbroot]

There's a market for someone to repair those dang 450, 550, 650, & 750 switches. Now that ya got the process down I'll be looking ya up sometime.

 

[mrbruce]

i said in the update, in the first post, that my even considering the power switch repair was totally due to the many knowledgeable true experts here at AK. I read as many of the threads as I could find and they were INVALUABLE. It helped that mine had the Noble switch and was just riveted together.
I am not particularly mechanical, or good at soldering, but attempted this based on all of the previous experience described here.
The inside of my switch showed pretty dramatic pitting of the stationary post where the movable arm contacted it. I was able to turn that post to a fresh location and before I sealed it up, I put a very thin layer of Silclear on both contact points. Power now clicks in cleanly with no flutter whatsoever in the lights.
For me, it is a very steep learning curve. After doing just one, I realize all of the important steps and could move quite a bit faster. Nonetheless, I felt stressed with it.
There is certainly some satisfaction in completing it successfully. In one of the older threads, I think it was Markthefixer that said manipulating the tuner string is "not for the faint of heart". Made me laugh a lot because it is very true!